Elements Of Poetry
FORM
SOUND DEVISES
IMAGERY
MOOD/TONE
THEME
Poetry:
Poetry is a form of writing that uses not only words,
but also form (lines and stanzas),
patterns of sound,
(rhyme, repition, and rhythm) as well as
figurative language and imagery
to convey a message, tell a story, or express the
author’s feelings or thoughts.
Any poem will include some or all of these elements.
How to analyze a poem
1. Read through for overall meaning.
Circle unknown words and look up in
dictionary
2. What information does the title
give you?
3. Read again and annotate for
elements of poetry.
4. Read a final time to determine
theme.
Form/structure
•
•
A poem’s form is its
appearance. Poems are
divided into lines. Many
poems, especially longer ones,
may also be divided into
groups of lines called stanzas.
Stanzas function like
paragraphs in a story. Each
one contains a single idea or
takes the idea one step
further.
What is the purpose of the first
stanza of “The Highwayman”?
The wind was a torrent of darkness,
among the gusty trees.
The moon was a ghostly galleon
tossed upon cloudy seas.
The road was a ribbon of moonlight
over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding Riding – riding –
The highwayman came riding up to
the old inn door.
Sets the scene
SOUND Devices
Some poems use techniques of sound
such as: rhythm
rhyme
alliteration/consonance/
assonance
onomatopoeia
repetition
Rhythm:
• The pattern of beats or
stresses in a poem.
Poets use patterns of
stressed and unstressed
syllables to create a
regular rhythm.
Try beating out the rhythm
with a finger as you read
these lines.
She was a child and I was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was
more than love –
I and my Annabel Lee;
RHYME:
The repetition of the same or similar sounds,
usually in stressed syllables at the ends of
lines, but sometimes within a line.
There are strange things done in the
midnight sun
By the men who moil for gold;
Rhyme Scheme
The rhyming pattern that is created at
the end of lines of poetry.
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece as white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.
A
B
C
B
If the poem does not have a rhyme
scheme it is considered to be a
free verse poem.
ALLITERATION:
The repetition of consonant sounds at the
beginnings of words.
Seven silver swans swam silently seaward.
Peter Piper pick a peck of pickled peppers.
Assonance
• The repetition of vowel sounds within
non-rhyming words.
• Into the ink-filled jar, she inserted the
brush.
Consonance
• Repetitive sound produced by
consonants in the middle or end of
words in a phrase/sentence.
• Pitter, patter, pitter, patter
Onomatopoeia
Words that are used to represent
particular sounds.
Crash
Bang
Boom
Zip
Repetition
The repeating of a particular sound
devise to create an effect.
To create emphasis, a poet may repeat
words or lines within the poem.
IMAGERY
Poets use words that
appeal to the reader’s
senses of sight,
sound, touch, taste,
and smell.
Which senses does the
following stanza appeal
to?
Back, he spurred like a madman,
shouting curses to the sky,
With the white road smoking behind
him and his rapier brandished high.
Sight?
Sound?
Figurative Language
Figurative language creates pictures
by making comparisons.
SIMILE
A comparison using like or as.
Talk of your cold! through the parka’s
fold it stabbed like a driven nail.
METAPHOR:
Describes one thing as if it were
another.
The moon was a ghostly galleon
tossed upon cloudy seas.
Extended Metaphor
A metaphor that extends throughout
the entire poem instead of just a few
lines of the poem.
Mother to Son
By: Langston Hughes
stair.
Well, son, I’ll tell you:
Life for me ain’t been no crystalstair.
It’s had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor –
Bare.
But all the time
I’se been a-climbin on,
And reachin’ landin’s,
And turnin’ corners,
And sometimes goin’ in the dark
Where there ain’t been no light.
So, boy, don’t you turn back.
Don’t you set down on the stops
‘Cause you finds it kinder hard.
don’t you fall now –
For I’se still goin’, honey,
I’se still climbin’, and life for me ain’t been no crystal
PERSONIFICATION:
Gives human characteristics to something
nonhuman.
…and the stars o’erhead
were dancing heel and toe…
Allusion
• When an author or
poet refers to a
famous person,
place or thing in
history.
• Ex. The Midas
Touch
In “The Highwayman,” images create a
picture of Tim.
Which figures are used to describe his eyes
and his hair?
His eyes were hollows of madness, his hair like
moldy hay,
eyes : hollows of madness : Metaphor
hair : moldy hay
: Simile
Which figures are used to
describe the following?
• My love is like a
rose.
• Simile
• Our love bloomed in
the garden.
• Personification
• The rose tipped its
head as we passed
by.
• Personification
Mood/Tone
The feelings the author’s word choices
give the poem.
The only other sounds the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
THEME:
The theme of a poem is its central or
main idea.
To identify a poem’s theme, ask
yourself what ideas or insights about
life or human nature you have found in
the poem.